Toni & Suzie

Their Story

Punching well
above his weight.

Toni's speech had the room in stitches before it had them in tears. Strangers, he explained, regularly stop Suzie to tell her how stunning she is — then look him up and down and say, without hesitation, "you're punching well above your weight." His conclusion, delivered with total serenity: "Suzie is hot, and I'm just happy to be involved."

Then the turn. "Her appearance is a small part of why I love her," he said. After all these years he'd come to see the most loving, caring and thoughtful person he'd ever met — someone who puts others first, sees the best in people, and has quietly made him better. "She's taught me patience, empathy, and how not to immediately assume I'm right."

Suzie's answer was shorter and hit just as hard. Instead of throwing her bouquet, she walked it over and placed it in her mother's hands — "you were my best friend growing up, but you don't know that you're my best friend now." The day ran from the Melbourne Town Hall portico to Leonda by the Yarra, with guests who'd come from Macedonia, Lebanon and Egypt to be there.